Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Hi Stamping Friends! It's Tuesday and that means it's time for another challenge over at the COLOURQ. Arielle is not kidding when she says challenge! I didn't know what I wanted to do with these colors. The Daffodil Delight and Tangerine Tango inspired me to think citrus, so I pulled out my much unloved set, Tart and Tangy. I'm not sure when's the last time it's seen ink. And it is so cute. When I first got it, I used it all the time. But you get new stamps and you need to use them and your old favorites somehow end up on the bottom of the pile. If only there were more stamping hours in the day. Then none of my sets would go unused!

TART AND TANGY

I wanted to keep things clean, so the colors would just pop off the card. I had stamped and punched out all my citrus circles, when it dawned on me that I had new STampin' Up! buttons in coordinating colors. When I attached the buttons, the fruit took on the appearance of a flower. Isn't that fun?! I used Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #126 for this card. I love the faux stitching, but would rather have real stitching. Someday I'll have space for a sewing machine. Is it too early to plan on when the children leave the house so I can have a craft room? I suppose it is, since my oldest is only 14. :) The little "hello" sentiment comes from the Hello Again set. It's such a cute little stamp.

That's all for today. Stop back by in Thursday for the Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge, where we celebrate all of lifes little moments!

Friday, August 27, 2010

Hi Stampers!!! Welcome to the Stampin' Addicts Holiday Mini Blog Hop. If you've been hopping with us, that means you just came from Rhonda's Stampin' Bunny blog where she treated you with lots of fabulous ideas using the Candy Wrapper die. I just can't wait to get my hands on this one! If you just joined the hop, that's okay. Just keep hopping along and make your way around. You won't want to miss a single blog, since they all have amazing ideas using the products from the new Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Catalog that begins September 1st. If you get lost, or miss a blog, just CLICK HERE and you can see a list of all the blogs in order.

I chose to feature the Pasiley Prints stamp set (#120817 $16.95). What drew me to this set was the fact that you can use it for almost any holiday. It's very versatile. It has a Christmas tree, two hearts (big and small) , a leaf, and a pumpkin. My first card uses the large paisley heart.

I used the Deck the Halls DSP, also available in the mini. It's not for Christmas only ya know!! I think it looks wonderful on this shabby valentine. Other items I used from the mini catalog is the 1/2" seam binding. It's nice and thin and very easy to tie. I also used the Deck the Halls Big Desginer Buttons. And they ain't kidding when they say BIG! This is the smallest button in the pack. This layout comes from the Mojo Monday sketch blog. It is sketch #153.

Next up I used the leaf stamp. It's perfect for any fall project.

This DSP is also from the Deck the Halls pack. The colors I used are Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, (doesn't that sound yummy together!) and Wild Wasabi. This color combo comes from the Color Lab challenge. The monocromatic nuetrals also works for the challenge over at the Stampin' Royalty blog. Plus, the sketch comes from the Pals Paper Arts challenge. Wow! Three challenge with one card, and they are all SU! blogs! I haven't done that in awhile!

My final project would make a great addition to your Thanksgiving holiday table setting. You could use these little treat holders as placecards. Write everyone's name on them and set them on their plate. A little chocolate is the perfect ending to any meal!

This treat holder was inspired by Kimberly Van Diepen. It uses the Two Tags die. I wanted to do a Christmas card using the Christmas tree stamp, but just ran out of time. If only I didn't need to sleep. Then I could get in more stamping!

Next up on the blog hop is the super talented and amazingly sweet Allison Ohran. (I may be a little bias, since we are on the Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge DT together!) Allison will be featuring the Paisley Party wheel that coordinates with the Paisley Prints set that I just showed you. Maybe she made something with the Christmas tree!

Thanks so much for hopping by! Be sure to check out STAMPIN' ADDICTS. It's my favorite online Stampin' Up! hangout. They have an amazing gallery filled with all kinds of SU! goodness. Plus the forums are full of lots of friendly, positive people who love Stampin' Up! as much as I do!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

So glad you stopped by today! It's Thursday and that means it's time for another Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge. I chose these photos, because it will soon be my DD's 12th birthday. I'm so excited for her. She is growing up to be such a beautiful girl, inside and out. It's kind of funny, because her and her BFF are planning her birthday party. I haven't had to do anything yet, except okay the day and the time. They want to do a pajama party, the non-sleepover kind. Just have girls come over in their jammies and eat pizza and watch movies and go home. How easy is that?!! So made my card with her in mind.

BIG BOLD CUPCAKES

I used the sketch the sketch challenge form the Taylored Expressions blog. This is sketch TESC125. All of the DSP is retired stuff, but I thought the colors were so perfect for the inspiration pics. And I wanted all the DSP to have polka dots on it. I LOVE polka dots!! I adhered all the circles and then embossed the whole thing with the Perfect Polka Dots Impression Folder. I used my Big Bold Cupcakes Sizzlets to create the yummy cupcake. I used the crimper to make the cupcake holder wavy. The flower on top of the cupcake was made with the Floral Fusion Sizzlet. And I adore all my new buttons!! So many fun colors and shapes. I added some pearls on top of the buttons. The pearls and rhinestones are also on my top 10 faves from the new catty. I could stick them on everything!!!

Don't forget to stop back by tomorrow. I will be participating in the Stampin' Addicts Holiday Mini Catty Blog Hop. Now I really need to go teach the Kindergartener and then stamp stuff for tomorrow. And I can't forget my club ladies are coming tonight. Aaahhhh!! When will it ever end?! :)

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Hi Stamping Friends! I have another fabulous color challenge for you from the ColourQ!! I saw this combo and immediately thought "boy colors". And when I think of boys (at least little 5yo boys!), I think dirt and grunge. So today's card has lots of torn, roughed up, grungieness on it. Sort of a Oscar the Grouch meets Stampin' Up! feel.

EXTREME ELEMENTS

See what I mean! I just couldn't stop sponging everything with Basic Gray ink! The base is Poppy Parade layered with Basic Gray, which has been stamped using the Extreme Elements set (my all-time FAVE boy set!). The Skateboarder is stamped in Basic Gray and then I used all the other challenge colors to add some pizzazz to that bright white rectangle. Of course I used my Color Sprtizer tool to add more Basic Gray splotches to everything. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. This is a must-have set. I use it ALL the time.

This awesome sketch comes from my very favorite online SUO hangout, Stampin' Addicts. This is Sketch Challenge 64. Come play along with us. And while you're there, stay and chat and check out the awesome SUO gallery. It's amazing!

Be sure to check out what the other Design Team members came up with. I'm so honored to be a part of such a talented group of ladies. I'm still amazed that Arielle keeps me around. :)

Thursday I'll be posting the newest Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge. And then on Friday I get to be a part of the Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Blog Hop. SA blog hops are the BEST!! If you want to see some amazing projects using all new SU! products from the upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog, be sure to set aside some time this weekend to hop on by.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Hi Stamping Friends! It's Thursday and that means it's time for another fabulous challenge over at the Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge. This week, we are celebrating my (and hubby's!) 17th wedding anniversary!! I can't believe I've enjoyed 17 wonderful years of wedded bliss. Of course not everyday of the last 17 years has been exactly blissful, but the experience as a whole has had far more ups than downs. How could it not when you get to hang out with your very best friend, every single day?!!

And yes, this week I actually made a card for the challenge!! I've been a very, very bad challenge team member this summer. I'm so glad the other design team gals keep me around. :) I chose the photos for this challenge, because I love the colors (green and brown are my faves!) and I also love the rustic, shabby look. However, I've decided that I'm not very good at replicating the shabby chic look. I do better with simple and cutesy. But I was inspired by the look of the photos, so I tried (tried being the operative word!) to do a vintage/shabby card.

ELEMENTS OF STYLE

Everyone on the design team was pretty much inspired by the gorgeous deep red tulips in the pics. I don't have any tulip stamps, so I used the flowers from Elements of Style instead (LOVE this set!). I messed up the first time I stamped, (my Staz-On ink pad was dried out!) so I tried to restamp on top of what I had already stamped, and that didn't work too good. That's why it looks like there is a slight shadow under everything. I also used the background stamp En Francais. I used markers to color the image. The colors I used are So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, Riding Hood Red, and Soft Suede. The sketch come from Karen Giron's blog: the sweetest thing.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Hi Stamping Friends!! Long time no see! Sorry for ignoring you this last week, but my computer monitor decided it no longer wanted to be of service, so I finally found a replacement. Oh the joys of modern technology!! The good news is I finally have a card for you to look at. And I actually kind of like it!! Today is the new color challenge over at the COLOURQ. And Arielle pick out this adorable, vintage apron as the inspiration. Of course I missed the Very Vanilla part and used Whisper White instead, but I think she'll forgive me. :)

PUNCHED POSIES

I love this hostess set, Punched Posies. So many fun possiblities. It's only available now through August 31st, since it is part of the Summer Mini. So you better book your workshop ASAP so you can get this set!! I also LOVE our new buttons!!! They come in so many fabulous Core Colors. I'm so glad I bought all four color families! The Baja Breeze DSP is retired, as is the ribbon. But like I always say... you better get what you love now, or it will be gone before you know it!! The cute "hello" sentiment comes from the Hello Again set.

I almost forgot!! I used the FTL103 sketch from the clean & simple blog. Love those sketches!!!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Hi Stamping Friends!! Sorry I haven't been around much this last week. I'm still trying to fix some computer issues. Today is the new challenge over at the Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge. These fun colorful photos are celebrating "back to school"! I don't know when school begins in your neck of the woods. When I was a kid, it always started the Tuesday after Labor Day. Always. But my 14yo DS went to his very first day of high school today!! It seems like summer still, but they start school early around here. A city nearby started school last week!! I don't know about you, but I still have summer on the brain. I hope you can play along with us this week!

Sending DS to the local public high school is a huge transition for our family. We started homeschooling him (and his younger sister) when he was going into second grade. So he has been home for the last seven years!! I sent him off this morning with a smile and some homemade cookies in his lunch. I did all my crying last night after he went to bed. :) We're still homeschooling our DD, who is starting 7th grade, and will start homeschooling Kindergarten with our 5yo DS. So our days will all be a little different, but I'm so excited for this new chapter in our lives. And I can't wait until this afternoon to find out how "real" school was. :)

Sorry I don't have a sample for you today. But you should go to the SCIC site and check out the wonderful creations our fabulous Design Team came up with. I'm really hoping to get this computer thing fixed soon. Worse than not having any pics to post, I'm a little worried about what my bank account looks like after not balancing my checkbook in awhile! I can't believe how much I depend on my computer!!!

And I'm sure you would love to see one. Unfortunately, I'm having computer issues and I'm without my desktop, which has my photo editing software on it. So, I don't have a card for you... yet! I hope to post one this weekend. But then again, I'll be busy picking up hubby and DS from the airport, so don't hold me to that promise! Nothing like a flaky stamper. :)

But just because I can't get my act together, doesn't mean you can't. So come on! Play along with us! And remember to celebrate all of lifes special moments!!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Hi Stamping Friends! Tuesday means it's time for another one of Arielle's fabulous ColourQ Challenges!! When I first saw these colors I really wanted to to do a modern looking card. I went searching for a suitable sketch challenge (heaven forbid I should come up with my own sketch!!). I found one I liked at the Clean and Simple blog. It's their Fall To Layout #101.

FIFTH AVENUE FLORAL

I used the Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder on the black layer. I altered the Saffron Top Note slightly. I cut it in half, then layered it on top of itself. This made it alot smaller. I didn't want it to cover up my pretty embossed layer! The rest is pretty self explanatory. This was my first time playing with Poppy Parade and I have to say that I LOVE it! Such a fun shade of red. I was pretty happy with how this card turned out. Kind of modern and funky. But when I saw the cards that the other DT gals were uploading for this challenge, I realized that these are the perfect "Mary Engelbreit" colors! So I just "had" to make another card ala Mary style!

WORD PLAY

I went to the Mary Engelbreit website and looked at a few things they have for sale. I was inspired to create this! I just love those lollipop style flowers and have been wanting to make them forever. This was the perfect reason to finally do it! I punched out three circles and then distressed the edges. I then sponged the edges with matching ink. After adhering the layers with Glue Dots, I then distressed and lifted the edges even more. I knew I wanted buttons in the center, but I haven't gotten any of the new buttons... yet (they are on the order I just placed!). So I dug into my retired stash and found these really old ones. They are actually Very Vanilla, but I colored them with the Daffodil Delight marker. If you touch them, the ink may still rub off. I must have colored them five times, because everytime I messed with them, I would rub more ink off! The sentiment comes from a new set called Word Play.

I hope you can play along with us at the ColourQ this week. Make sure and stop by the other Royal Court DT members. You can click on their links on my sidebar.

Monday, August 2, 2010

I ran across some cards I made with my technique club, way back in May and June. Since I didn'y share them with you then, I thought I would share them throught the week. All of these cards were CASEd from somewhere off the web. But it's been so long since I made them, that I can't remember the original artist. So if you designed any of the technique cards I will be showing this week... THANK YOU for sharing your amazing talent with the cyberworld!

ELEMENTS OF STYLE

This card uses the spotlight technique. Only one setion of the image is colored or "spotlighted". I love that it used the butterfly die instead of just a circle punch, which is usually the norm. I also love the shabby, vintage style of this card. I'm really trying to do more shabby cards, but my personality doesn't lend itself to "mess stuff up" on purpose. :)

The colors I used were Spft Suede, Crumb Cake, and Not Quite Navy. The DSP is now retired, it was called Bella Bleu. It is not this bright IRL. It is a much more subtle color. My club ladies LOVED this card. And it was fun to make!

This is my personal paper crafting blog. I am an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, and I am responsible for its content. Stampin' Up! does not endorse the use of or contents of the classes, services, or non-Stampin' Up! products I may use/offer here on my site. All content are copyright by Krystal De Leeuw. Happy Stamping!